FGCU officials form affordable housing for elderly coalition
Tuesday, June 11, 2002 By MARCI ELLIOTT, mrelliott@naplesnews.com
It's a Catch-22 and an oxymoron rolled into one: The money's there, but the cost is prohibitive. Or, translated, finding affordable housing for the frail and elderly in Collier County is impossible — even though federal dollars are available — because land prices are so high. It's a frustration that has driven service-providers and researchers to join together and form a coalition to help solve the dilemma, which they say has reached a crisis level. "With a coalition, we can funnel money and services," said Gary Kluckhuhn, director of the Center for Assisted Living Innovation at Florida Gulf Coast University. "In Collier County, we need land." FGCU's Center for Assisted Living Innovation hosted an inaugural meeting May 28, followed by a second one June 4, to bring assistance-providers together. They've formed a group called the HALO Coalition, for Housing with Assisted Living Options. The Center for Assisted Living is hosting a third meeting at 2 p.m. today at the FGCU Naples Center, 1010 Fifth Ave. S. in the Heart Fax Building. Members and representatives of several organizations and agencies will gather to sift through information, fine-tune a mission statement and discuss ways to develop a strategy to achieve their goal: providing affordable housing for the elderly and other folks who need help with daily functions, such as dressing and bathing, taking medications and moving from one room to another. They already have some ideas. They already have federal money waiting. What they need now is land. And other help. "With Collier County being so affluent, it's hard to find affordable housing with supportive services for these people," Kluckhuhn said. "Many of them live in subsidized housing, but they don't have the services they need provided. They're eligible for federal dollars, but we can't get any of that money in Collier County because the land cost is so great. You can find land in Lee and Charlotte counties, but not in Collier." Educating the public is a top priority, Kluckhuhn said. He believes there are people who would be willing to help, and have the means to help, if they only knew about the problem. "Awareness is key," he said. "I honestly believe it will change the picture. Some people say we don't need affordable housing. We've got to get the word out." Peggy Hanson has already heard the word. An active volunteer in the Pelican Bay Women's League and another charitable group called the Year-Rounders, Hanson heard of the HALO Coalition through one of the earlier meetings. She wants to help, and she wants to bring others with her. "It's going to serve a very useful purpose," Hanson said of the HALO Coalition. "It's going to bring all these groups together ... Some of the organizations don't have money, and they turn people away. We need to know this." The Year-Rounders, made up of residents who live year-round in the Naples area, sponsor a cause and raise money for it with an annual fund-raiser. In August, the group will host a cocktail party with an "Evening in Paris" theme at the Registry Resort in North Naples. Hanson convinced the group to give some of the proceeds for the HALO Coalition's seed money. "This is going to mushroom," Hanson said. "We're all going to be elderly some day, and we all want to keep our independence and our dignity ... This has piqued the interest of several people." One idea Kluckhuhn and the HALO Coalition have is "quarter share" housing — a home in which four unrelated people reside together. Each person would have a suite including a bedroom, bath and small sitting room. The home would have a common kitchen and parlor where the residents could socialize. Money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development would pay the rent. And there's another benefit of the "quarter share," Kluckhuhn said: Service providers could visit four clients with one visit — saving money and distributing services more evenly. The HALO Coalition also plans to develop a network of certified volunteers, who would fill in the gaps and make visits to assist the residents after visiting professionals and providers have exhausted their services. Lilli Miller with the Department of Elder Affairs, who is in charge of training volunteers for faith-based organizations, has agreed to train volunteers for the HALO Coalition to form a pool of certified volunteers to pick up some of the slack. "There are a lot of good-hearted people willing to help, but until HALO Coalition was formed, this was limited," Kluckhuhn said. "We can't ignore the value of the volunteers. But if they're not trained and certified, they're limited in what they can do." So far, several agencies and organizations have joined the HALO Coalition, including Collier County Housing Authority, Department of Children and Families, Collier Senior Services, Goodwill, Caregivers Support Group, Summer House Assisted Living, Southwest Florida Partnership, Senior Solutions of Southwest Florida, NCH's Outpatient Rehabilitative Services, Naples Planning Department and others. St. Matthew's House, which operates a homeless shelter, and other groups are coming on board, Kluckhuhn said. "The HALO Coalition is focusing on long-term care with assisted living options," he said. "The number one issue is care and services for the frail and elderly. The resources are there. We will succeed with this."
 For more information on the HALO Coalition, call Gary Kluckhuhn, director of the Center for Assisted Living Innovation at Florida Gulf Coast University, at 732-0375.
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